Golf tee leveling device

ABSTRACT

A device for placing a golf tee in a perfect vertical position. Said device consists of a body having an enlarged upper section and a tapered lower section pointing toward the ground. The bottom of the tapered lower section has a recess therein to receive a golf tee head which tee is to be pushed into the ground. The top of the enlarged upper section of the body receives a ring to which a domed glass sight glass is attached. The sight glass has a liquid therein including a bubble which will center itself in the dome when the body is perfectly horizontal. The golf tee will be placed perfectly in a vertical position when pushed into the ground and the bubble is centered in the dome. There is a lateral extension on a side of said body which has a sleeve thereon. A depth determining pin is frictionally received within the sleeve. The depth pin has markings thereon so that a predetermined depth can be achieved when the golf tee is pushed into ground.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The golf Tee leveling device is used in the game of playing golf. The game of golf is played on a course, typically made up of either 9 or 18 holes. Each hole has a well designated starting area called a tee box. The rules of golf allow the player to insert a tee, a small peg with a concave top upon which the ball rests, into the ground for the purposes of hitting an initial shot (tee shot) toward the hole. On the tee box, the player inserts the tee into the ground by pushing it downward, and places the ball on top of the tee onto the concave top. The height and the vertical alignment of the tee are left to the discretion of the player and may be adjusted to a player's personal preference. The Golf Tee Leveling Device addresses both the height and the vertical alignment of the inserted tee, allowing the player consistency from hole to hole.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Each hole on a golf course consists of three distinct playing surfaces: the tee box, the fairway, and the green. Of the three surfaces, the tee box is the only surface designed to be level, and the only surface in which the golfer is allowed to physically place his/her ball on a tee prior to striking it. Unlike the tee box, the fairways and greens are often undulating, angled and/or sloped, so as to add to the difficulty and challenge of the course. On the fairways and the greens, a ball must be hit where it lies, without improving its position. The laws of physics dictate that a ball struck from a sloped or angled lie may take on a trajectory or flight path that differs vastly from a ball struck from a level surface. The player must, therefore, take into consideration the angle or slope of the terrain upon which the ball rests, prior to hitting the ball. This adds to the challenge and the complexity of the game.

The tee box is a completely different hitting surface. Tee boxes are designed to be level (or as close to the level as the terrain permits), such that each player will have a neutral, standardized surface from which to start each hole. However, it has been found, that when a tee is inserted into the ground (which makes the ball easier to hit), it is not necessarily perpendicular to the ground, as was intended to be by both the level nature of the tee box, and the player who inserted the tee. A tee that is not properly aligned is a common phenomenon that arises from the fact that a player must bend over from the waist to insert the tee into the ground, and cannot adequately ascertain the horizontal or vertical alignment of the tee from this bent position. It is just a human oversight. Tee alignment may be adjusted or corrected at any time prior to striking the ball. An improperly aligned tee could give the appearance and/or take the physical characteristics of a ball lying on a sloped or angled surface. The premise here is that unless the tee is perfectly squared relative to the ground, the ball, when hit may not follow the intended trajectory of the flight of the ball.

It is also important that the tee height be consistent from hole to hole. Each club has a different loft angle, which influences the height and distance a ball will travel. The loft angle of a club can be combined with the tee height to determine force and trajectory with which the ball must be struck. Typically, the higher the tee height, the easier the ball is to hit, especially, for novice players. A high tee placement also makes it easier to hit with clubs such as woods, which have very little loft but cause the ball to travel further. While many factors and considerations go into a club selection, each player typically has a preferred tee height that corresponds to each club. As a matter of consistency, replication of tee height from both tee box to tee box, and from club to club may impact a player's performance. As with the vertical alignment of the tee, the height is very difficult to gauge when inserting the tee into the ground on the tee box. The inventive concept addresses both of the above considerations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the leveling device including the height pin;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the leveling device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross section view through the leveling device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the inventive leveling device. The body 1 of the leveling device can take the shape of a ball cut in half with the rounded part being the lower end of the device. The shape of the leveling device is preferably constructed as a body having a top flat surface on an upper enlarged section on one end and a lower section that slowly tapers or becomes more slender toward the other end. The leveling device could also take the shape of a “spin top” used by children. The upper enlarged section has a ring 2 provided thereon which supports or has attached thereto a sight glass 3. As is well known a sight glass has a bubble 10 a therein which is floating in the fluid 10 contained in the sight glass (FIG. 3) therein which determines the exact horizontal position when lined up with a centered sight ring in the center of the domed glass. The bottom of the tapered body 1 has a recess 5 therein to receive the head of a golf tee therein.

When in use, the body 1 is placed in one hand (left or right) with two fingers holding the golf tee 4 in place while the other fingers will grasp the body. It is merely up to the player to now push the golf tee into the ground while observing the bubble 10A to be centered in the sight ring (not shown). This procedure will result in the golf tee being placed in a perfect vertical position relative to the plane of the tee box on which the player stands. Although the fairway may be slanted, the leveling of the tee allows for symmetric visual layout between the player standing on the level tee box and the pin on the green, which is also vertically aligned.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the leveling device including the same reference numerals.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the leveling device with the same reference characters having been applied as were in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIGS. 1 and 2 also show a different embodiment of the leveling device. In this embodiment there is a lateral attachment 6 applied to one side of the body 1. The lateral extension is a receptacle 7 in the form of a round gripping element. This gripping element receives a pin 8 designed as a depth gauge. It is preferred that there is friction fit between the pin 8 and the gripping element so that, when in use, the pin can be adjusted to a desired height when placing the golf tee 4 into the ground. The depth pin cannot penetrate into the ground because of the presence of the enlarged head 9 at the bottom of the pin 8. The depth pin 8 should have several markings 11 thereon to predetermine a desired depth prior to placing the golf tee into the ground. Such markings could be lines, different colors or numbers. 

1. A golf tee leveling device consisting of a solid body having an: enlarged section at its upper end and a tapered section at its lower end, said lower end having a recess therein for receiving a head of a golf tee therein and to be held therein by the fingers of a player, said upper end of said body having a flat surface including a ring thereon, said ring having a sight glass thereon with a domed surface, said sight glass having a liquid therein including a bubble floating in said liquid, said bubble moving to a center position within said dome when said leveling device is in a perfect horizontal position, whereby said golf tee will be placed into the ground in a perfect vertical position when said leveling device is in a perfect horizontal position.
 2. The golf tee leveling device of claim 1 including a depth gauge attached to a lateral side of said body.
 3. A device adapted to place a golf tee into the ground comprising a body having an enlarged upper section and a tapered lower section, said body having a lateral extension attached thereto, said lateral extension having a downwardly extending sleeve mounted thereon, said sleeve receiving an elongated depth pin therein, said golf tee placing device, when pushing a golf tee into the ground, will limit the extent of said tee being pushed into ground.
 4. The device of claim 3 including depth determining markings on said depth pin.
 5. The device of claim 3 including a friction fit between said sleeve and said depth pin.
 6. The placing device of claim 3 including an enlarged head at the bottom of said depth pin to limit an insertion of said depth pin into the ground. 